Testimony Treasures, Volume 1 - Ellen G. White

vice which they may otherwise be tempted to engage in. I prize my
seamstress, I value my copyist; but my cook, who knows well how to
prepare the food to sustain life and nourish brain, bone, and muscle, fills the
most important place among the helpers in my family. ...
Religion in Good Cooking
We can have a variety of good, wholesome food, cooked in a healthful
manner, so that it can be made palatable to all. And if you, my sisters, do not
know how to cook, I advise you to learn. It is of vital importance to you to
know how to cook. There are more souls lost from poor cooking than you
have any idea of. It produces sickness, disease, and bad tempers; the system
becomes deranged, and heavenly things cannot be discerned. There is more
religion in a loaf of good bread than many of you think. There is more
religion in good cooking than you have any idea of. We want you to learn
what good religion is, and to carry it out in your families. When I have been
from home sometimes, I have known that the bread upon the table, and the
food generally, would hurt me; but I would be obliged to eat a little to sustain
life. It is a sin in the sight of Heaven to have such food. I have suffered for
want of proper food. For a dyspeptic stomach, you may place upon your
tables fruits of different kinds, but not too many at one meal. In this way you
may have a variety, and it will taste good, and after you have eaten your
meals you will feel well. ...
Some of you feel as though you would like to have somebody tell you
how much to eat. This is not the way it should be. We are to act from a moral
and religious standpoint. We are to be temperate in all things, because an
incorruptible crown, a heavenly treasure, is before us. And now I wish to say
to my brethren and sisters, I would have moral courage to take my position
and to govern myself. I would not want to put that on someone else. You eat
too much, and then you are sorry, and so you keep thinking upon what you
eat and drink. Just eat that which is for the best, and go right away, feeling
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